In less than one week, on November 1, the grace period granted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to
the children of foreign workers and their families will come to an end before Oz Unit inspectors will go ahead with their mission of deporting illegal aliens from Israel.
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| 'Foreign workers' kids victims of failures' / Yael Branovsky |
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While government has yet to make final decision on fate of foreign workers' children, aid organizations to continue their struggle demanding permanent residence status for kids. 'We will not let State deport children in order to bring new migrates and make a profit' |
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The children's future remains unclear as of yet, however a course of action has already been decided upon by the 'Israeli Children' organization – if Oz members come to take the children away – the activists will defend them with their own bodies.
Two weeks have passed since a meeting took
place in the prime minister's office in which it was proposed to postpone the deportation until after the school year ends, however no decision had been made in practice.
Netanyahu then announced that the matter will be discussed further in the "coming days" and that a decision will only be made after all aspects have been considered. A decision has yet to be announced. A question on the matter seeking to determine the state of affairs was sent to the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday and remained unanswered.
"We are approaching the date of the decision again, and again it appears the government is doing everything in order not to decide," a source from the foreign workers support center said. "Any delay to the decision causes unnecessary tension and irreversible mental damage to the children. At the end of the day there is no real disagreement – ministers and Knesset members from the Likud until
Meretz have
expressed their support of grating citizenship to these children who are Israeli for any intent and purpose.
"The only opposition comes from Shas.
The prime minister needs to decide which he prefers: The natural humane decision which is widely endorsed by the public, or surrendering to Eli Yishai's racism."
Dozens of calls have been made in recent weeks to the support center by foreign families dreading the impending deportation. Most families are in state of confusion – on the one hand they feel encouraged by the support offered by parts of the Israeli public, but on the other hand, many report of harassment by Oz Unit members in the middle of the night, as well as threats from the inspectors.
Sources in the support center also reported of many children who have a difficult time concentrating on school work in light of the possible deportation. There are also cases of children being late for school in order to accompany their parents to prevent their arrest.
An emergency meeting of the Israeli Children organization convened on Sunday and was attended by some 100 veteran activists, as well as dozens more who joined on Sunday. It was decided that should the government fail to prevent the deportation, the activists will defend the children from being taken away with their own bodies.
The organization is scheduled to stage a protest rally as well as an anti-deportation fair next Sunday in a garden near the Tel Aviv central bus station.
"It is unimaginable that the children will continue living in uncertainty and terrible anxiety," said Israeli Children founding member Rotem Ilan. "We call on the government to immediately cancel the deportation and make a final decision. We expect the prime minister to make a brave and just decision by grating status to the children and end their miseries," she added.
The campaign to legalize the status of foreign workers' children received support from the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors. An organization meeting will be held on Tuesday and Zeev Factor, current head of the group promised to raise the topic in order to recruit more Holocaust survivors to participate in the protest rally.
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